Artists

Roberto Minczuk

Music Director

In 2017, GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Roberto Minczuk was appointed Music Director of the New Mexico Philharmonic and of the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo. He is also Music Director Laureate of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (Canada) and Conductor Emeritus of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (Rio de Janeiro). In Calgary, he recently completed a 10-year tenure as Music Director, becoming the longest-running Music Director in the orchestra’s history.

Highlights of Minczuk’s recent seasons include the complete Mahler Symphony Cycle with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Bach’s St. John Passion, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Verdi’s La traviata, Bernstein’s Mass, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo; debuts with the Cincinnati Opera (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Daejeon Philharmonic in South Korea; and return engagements with the Orchestra National de Lille and the New York City Ballet. In the 2016/2017 season, he made return visits to the Israel Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Teatro Colón Philharmonic and Orchestra Estable of Buenos Aires.

A protégé and close colleague of the late Kurt Masur, Minczuk debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 1998, and by 2002 was Associate Conductor, having worked closely with both Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. He has since conducted more than 100 orchestras worldwide, including the New York, Los Angeles, Israel, London, Tokyo, Oslo, and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras; the London, San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras; and the National Radio (France), Philadelphia, and Cleveland Orchestras, among many others. In March 2006, he led the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s U.S. tour, winning accolades for his leadership of the orchestra in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Until 2010, Minczuk held the post of Music Director and Artistic Director of the Opera and Orchestra of the Theatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, and, until 2005, he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, where he previously held the position of Co-Artistic Director. Other previous posts include Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Ribeirão Preto Symphony, Principal Conductor of the Brasília University Symphony, and a six-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival.

Minczuk’s recording of the complete Bachianas Brasileiras of Hector Villa- Lobos with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (BIS label) won the Gramophone Award of Excellence in 2012 for best recording of this repertoire. His other recordings include Danzas Brasileiras, which features rare works by Brazilian composers of the 20th century, and the Complete Symphonic Works of Antonio Carlos Jobim, which won a Latin GRAMMY in 2004 and was nominated for an American GRAMMY in 2006. His three recordings with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra include Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gershwin and Beethoven Symphonies 1, 3, 5, and 8. Other recordings include works by Ravel, Piazzolla, Martin, and Tomasi with the London Philharmonic (released by Naxos), and four recordings with the Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival, including works by Dvořák, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Other projects include a 2010 DVD recording with the Chamber

Orchestra of Philadelphia, featuring the premiere of Hope: An Oratorio, composed by Jonathan Leshnoff; a 2011 recording with the Odense Symphony of Poul Ruders’s Symphony No. 4, which was featured as a Gramophone Choice in March 2012; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Italian Capriccio with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which accompanied the June 2010 edition of BBC Music Magazine. The Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão Festival was the Carlos Gomes prizewinner for its recording from the 2005 Festival, which also garnered the TIM Award for best classical album.

Roberto Minczuk has received numerous awards, including a 2004 Emmy for the program New York City Ballet—Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100; a 2001 Martin E. Segal Award that recognizes Lincoln Center’s most promising young artists; and several honors in his native country of Brazil, including two best conductor awards from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics and the coveted title of Cultural Personality of the Year. In 2009, he was awarded the Medal Pedro Ernesto, the highest commendation of the City of Rio de Janeiro, and in 2010, he received the Order of the Ipiranga State Government of São Paulo. In 2017, Minczuk received the Medal of Commander of Arts and Culture from the Brazilian government.

A child prodigy, Minczuk was a professional musician by the age of 13. He was admitted into the prestigious Juilliard School at 14 and by the age of 16, he had joined the Orchestra Municipal de São Paulo as solo horn. During his Juilliard years, he appeared as soloist with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts series. Upon his graduation in 1987, he became a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at the invitation of Kurt Masur. Returning to Brazil in 1989, he studied conducting with Eleazar de Carvalho and John Neschling. He won several awards as a young horn player, including the Mill Santista Youth Award in 1991 and I Eldorado Music. ●

Yoonshin Song

violin

Acclaimed as “a wonderfully talented violinist … whose sound and technique go well beyond her years,” Yoonshin Song was born in South Korea, where she began her musical studies at age 5. Making her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 11, she has since built a successful performing career internationally.

Yoonshin was appointed as Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in August 2019. Prior to that, she held the same position with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons. Yoonshin has also served as guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer.

Beyond her first-chair duties, Yoonshin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the KBS Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. The highlights of her 2020/2021 season as a soloist included concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, and the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also participated as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous leading music festivals, including the Marlboro, Deer Valley, Great Lakes, and Aspen Music Festivals in the United States; the Miyazaki Chamber Music Festival in Japan; and the Verbier, Lucerne, and Bayreuth Festivals in Europe.

Yoonshin has earned many prestigious prizes throughout her career, including top-prize awards in the Lipizer International Violin Competition in Italy; the Lipiński and Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland; the Henry Marteau International Violin Competition in Germany; and first prize at the Stradivarius International Competition in the United States. She studied under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory and continued her studies with Robert Mann and Glenn Dicterow at the Manhattan School of Music. ●

Steven Smith

conductor

Steven Smith served as Music Director of Virginia’s Richmond Symphony from 2010, launching his tenure with a gala concert featuring violinist Gil Shaham, to 2019, with a finale of Carmen in concert starring Denyce Graves. During that time, the Richmond Symphony performed a significantly wider repertoire representative of our global community, embracing music by living composers, with particular focus on cultural and gender diversity and commissioning new works. During his tenure, the RSO weathered and recovered from the recession, had its budget climb more than 30 percent, posted steadily increasing ticket sales (with the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons setting records of more than $1 million in sales), and accomplished the first expansion of the core orchestra in more than 20 years. In addition, Smith has conceived and presented new concert series such as “Casual Fridays,” hourlong explorations (combining discussion with complete performances) of core repertoire with the full orchestra, and “Rush Hour,” a chamber orchestra series held in the barrel room at the popular Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. An active speaker, he delivered the keynote address for the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and has appeared twice on the acclaimed speaker series “Eyes on Richmond.”

August 2019 brought the release of the Richmond Symphony’s first commercial recording, on the highly respected Reference Recordings label. The recording pairs the world premiere of Mason Bates’s Children of Adam (commissioned by the Richmond Symphony for its 60th anniversary) and Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem. Both works utilize poetry of Walt Whitman (among others) and also feature the Richmond Symphony Chorus.

In 2013, Steven Smith completed a 14-year tenure as Music Director of the Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus, a period during which the orchestra achieved numerous goals: recognized artistic growth, financial stability, and enthusiastic community support. He also serves as Music Director of the GRAMMY Awardwinning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, an ensemble devoted to the performance of contemporary music. Each spring, CCS presents the annual NEOSonicFest, a festival of new music and dance performances of which he serves as Artistic Director. From 2016–2019, he also served as an Affiliate Faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University.

From 1997 to 2003, Steven Smith served as the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, conducting subscription concerts, summer concerts at the Blossom Music Festival, and holiday programs. Particularly interested in the role of orchestras in arts education, he assisted in the planning and conducting of the Cleveland Orchestra’s educational and family concerts and hosted the orchestra’s annual broadcast videoconference, which won an Emmy Award in 2001. For five seasons he also served as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. During his tenure, they were invited by Carnegie Hall to perform in that institution’s famed Isaac Stern Auditorium, an appearance that took place in March 2000. During 2002 to 2005, he also served on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory, leading both orchestral and operatic performances.

Steven Smith is also an active ASCAP award-winning composer. He was named 2008 Ohio Composer of the Year and with that honor received a commission for a new string quartet that premiered in November 2008. His newest orchestral works are Chromo-Synchrony, premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in March 2015, and Kataklysmos, premiered by the Santa Fe Symphony in May 2010. The Cleveland Orchestra has performed his La Chasse at the Blossom Festival under the direction of Jahja Ling, and his One to One A Round for educational concerts at Severance Hall. His work Tane Mahuta was commissioned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and was premiered in April 2006. He has received commissions from the Cleveland Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Eugene Youth Symphony, as well as solo artists, and has had performances of his works by the Chautauqua Symphony, Colorado Springs Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Eugene Youth Symphony, and Colorado Springs Youth Symphony. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Steven Smith earned Master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Smith is the recipient of the CIM Alumni Association 1999 Alumni Achievement Award. ●

Gabriel Ingliss

piano

Gabriel Ingliss started the piano eight years ago at the age of 5, and two years later was playing the complete Bach Inventions from memory, in addition to several of that composer’s Sinfonias for solo keyboard. He has been studying with Prof. Falko Steinbach of the University of New Mexico since 2016, and since then has appeared on almost all piano recitals at Keller Hall, performing works by Bartók, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Haydn, and Mozart. Prof. Steinbach invited him to play at the 2018 Lindlar Piano Festival, where he performed Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D Major with the Symphony Orchestra of the Oberbergischer Kreis, and he returned the next year as a scholarship student to play on six concerts, presenting a Beethoven sonata, two concerti by Mozart, and other works including “Moving,” Falko Steinbach’s second book of etudes. He subsequently recorded those etudes on video at Keller Hall under the composer’s supervision, having already recorded the first book of etudes, “Finger Paintings,” the previous year. In September 2019, Gabriel inaugurated Chatter ABQ’s Beethoven commemoration with a performance of the Piano Sonata No. 5 in c minor, Op. 10, No. 1, and has been asked to return. In December 2019, he entertained several of KHFM’s donors with a rendition of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26. A video of that presentation was featured on KHFM’s Facebook page. He appeared on the New Jersey Symphony’s website last year, performing the Sonate for Oboe and Piano, Op. 166, by Camille Saint-Saëns alongside his father, Robert. Gabe has had the opportunity to play for such piano luminaries as Olga Kern, Anne-Marie McDermott, Marc Neikrug, and Lois Shapiro. Gabriel’s musical studies began at age 4 on the violin with his mother, Yuko Shimokawa, and he is now a pupil of the renowned violist Toby Appel. He is presently a scholarship student in the 8th grade at the Santa Fe Preparatory School. ●

Lorenzo Gallegos

violin

Lorenzo Gallegos is a violinist from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is 19 years old and began studying violin in middle school. He is currently studying violin performance at Boston University with Peter Zazofsky. Lorenzo studied with the late Lenny Felberg and with David Felberg in high school. He also participated in the UNM Summer Strings Institute for three years; NM All-State for all three years (first in state in 2019, 2020); won 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place in the Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition; played with the UNM Symphony Orchestra for three years; performed with many chamber ensembles, several Musicians for Musicians concerts, masterclasses, Opera Southwest, Texas Strings Camp in Austin, and had the honor of attending Boston University of Tanglewood Institute in the summer of 2019, which was life-changing. ●

Alexander Gavrylyuk

piano

The Ukrainian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk began his piano studies at the age of 7. He gave his first concerto performance when he was 9 years old. In 1996, he was a prizewinner in Senigallia, Italy, and in 1997 was a Second-Prize winner at the Second Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev. The next big step for Alexander was going back to compete at the 3rd Horowitz International Piano Competition and winning the coveted First Prize and Gold Medal in 1999. He was proclaimed “the best sixteen-year-old pianist of the late twentieth century” by critics in Japan in November 2000 after winning First Prize in the prestigious 4th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan. He was 16 years old in a field of competitors ranging in age from 16 to 32. Alexander returns regularly, touring Japan and performing to a full house in Suntory Hall and Tokyo Opera City Hall. He recorded his first two CDs in Japan.

Alexander Gavrylyuk lived in Sydney, Australia, from 1998 to 2006. His Australian performances include the “Stars of the Future” series at Government House in 1998, Proms Concert for the Festival of Sydney (1999), and the Sergei Rachmaninov and Prokofiev Festivals of Piano Concertos (1998, 1999). He has numerously performed for both radio (ABC Classic FM) and television (ABC and SBS). His Australian concert activities in more recent years include recitals at the Sydney Opera House and City Recital Hall in Sydney, as well as performances with the Melbourne Symphony and the West Australian Symphony Orchestras in 2006.

In April 2005, Alexander Gavrylyuk won the First Prize, Gold Medal, and Best Performance of a Classical Concerto in the internationally renowned 11th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition. That year, Video Artists International (VAI) recorded his live performance at the Miami Piano Discoveries Festival, USA, for international DVD release, which went on to receive four- and five-star ratings in the international press.

Alexander Gavrylyuk has performed with the Russian National Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, and Western Australia Symphony. He has performed with conductors Vladimir Spivakov, Leif Segerstam, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Igor Gruppman, and Dan Ettinger.

In January 2007, Alexander Gavrylyuk had his solo debut recital at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatorium at the invitation of Nikolay Petrov. Currently based in Moscow, he has also performed a solo recital at the Kremlin. This year, Alexander is scheduled to appear in Australia, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Taipei, and the USA. In May, he will record his second DVD with VAI in Miami. ●